VMS Help LSEDIT, Command Qualifiers, /WORK  *Conan The Librarian (sorry for the slow response - running on an old VAX)

  /WORK=file-spec /WORK=LSE$WORK (D)
  /NOWORK

  Specifies the name of the file to be  used  as  a  work  file  for  the
  editor.   When LSE attempts to allocate memory and is unsuccessful, the
  editor begins to transfer the contents of user buffers to the work file
  and  releases  the  memory  previously  occupied  by the data.  When an
  attempt to reference this data is made, the editor restores the data to
  the correct buffer from the work file.

  The logical name LSE$WORK can be defined to point to a directory  where
  the work file should be created.